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November/December 2016 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL //
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NORTH
AMERICAN
NEWS
greg smith appointed
illinois lottery director
Greg Smith, formerly the lottery direc-
tor for Vermont, has been appointed
to oversee the Illinois Lottery.
Smith has directed the Vermont lot-
tery since 2012. During his tenure,
Vermont Lottery sales and profits grew
by nearly 20%, resulting in more than
$26M being contributed to Vermont’s
Education Fund in the last fiscal year.
Before his position with the Vermont
Lottery, Smith was an executive with a
retail and direct marketing company,
the owner of a country inn, and a pay-
roll and tax accounting manager for a
pharmaceutical company.
Smith joins the lottery in Illinois,
which is unusual for how it is oper-
ated. The Illinois Lottery was the first
in the nation to outsource its day-to-
day management to a private firm,
and is now in the process of becoming
the first in the nation to replace one
private management firm with another
In July, the Illinois governor’s office
announced the opening of a bid pro-
cess for a new management company
with the hope of finding a replace-
ment by early next year. The governor
has said that the lottery has been “very
poorly run” for years.
Smith will be responsible for help-
ing oversee the expiring contract with
Northstar, the incumbent manage-
ment firm, and any contract the state
enters with a new operator.
When it was selected to manage the Il-
linois Lottery in 2011, Northstar said
that it would dramatically boost prof-
its to the state, but promised amounts
have never materialized.
michigan lottery com-
missioner m. scott bowen
stepping down after nine
years of service
Mr Bowen’s resignation is effec-
tive Feb. 18, 2017.
“Scott’s work at
Michigan Lottery has been critical to the
reinvention of Michigan, with the lottery
providing significant support for public
education in our state,”
Gov. Rick Sny-
der said.
“While I am sad to accept his
resignation, I wish Scott all the best as he
pursues new opportunities in the private
sector.”
Bowen was appointed Lottery
Commissioner in January 2008 and is
the Lottery’s longest serving commis-
sioner.
“Serving as the Commissioner of
the Michigan Lottery has been a great
honor and wonderful opportunity,”
Bowen said.
“The Lottery’s success dur-
ing my tenure reflects the hard work and
dedication of the Lottery employees and
its retailers, who are proud to carry out
the agency’s mission of providing funds
for public education in our state. The
Michigan Lottery consistently ranks as
one of the top-performing lotteries in the
nation because of their efforts.”
The Michigan Lottery developed and
launched several industry-leading
innovations under Bowen’s leader-
ship, most notably online games, first
offered to players in August 2014. The
Lottery’s online games launch was the
most successful in North American
lottery history.
The Lottery projects the online games
will provide incremental growth and
contribute an additional $480 million
to the School Aid Fund in the first
eight years of operation. More than
414,000 players have registered to play
Lottery games online. Bowen, a strong
advocate for responsible gaming, also
guided an expansion of the Lottery’s
efforts to help players play responsibly.
The Michigan Lottery became the first
lottery in the United States to receive
certification for its commitment to
responsible internet gaming.
ontario lottery will
not privatize
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming
Corporation (OLG) will not privatize
its lottery operations. The OLG with-
drew a previously issued request for
proposals and will pursue a different
path to modernization.
In a recent announcement, Stephen
Rigby, OLG’s president and chief ex-
ecutive officer, said that
“after a period
of due diligence and consultation with
globally-experienced proponents, OLG
has determined that the selection of a
single service provider would not provide
sufficient value for the province.”
The lottery generated record sales of
$3.8 billion in 2015-16, and con-
tributes $2.2 billion annually to the
provincial government to support
hospitals, amateur sports, local and pro-
vincial charities, and problem gambling
prevention, treatment, and research.
OLG’s original modernization plan
had been designed to rejuvenate
the lottery and gaming industry in
Ontario and increase revenue for the
province. That plan called for the
province to increase its contribution
by $1.3 billion annually, create more
than 2,000 new jobs, and spur $3 bil-
lion in investment across Ontario. The
new modernization approach will seek
to enhance capabilities in technology
and innovation through partnerships
with the private sector, Rigby said.
Since the lottery’s modernization an-
nouncement in 2012, the Sault Ste.
Marie Economic Development Corp.
and the Innovation Centre have worked
to become a lottery and gaming center
of excellence. The Innovation Centre has
taken a lead role in developing the lottery
and gaming industry because of its famil-
iarity with information technology
Rigby said OLG’s sponsored research
indicates there is untapped revenue
potential in the market and the lottery
will adjust its approach to pursue that
revenue. OLG will continue to operate
the Lottery business.